Colombia Day 6 – Zoo Trip

One of the nice things about staying at the Hotel Pension Stein is that the owner loves to take adopting families on outings around the city. Today we had the opportunity to visit the Cali Zoo with one of the other families staying here at the hotel.


Day 6 Photos


Day 6 Videos

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After daddy’s computer again. The word “no” is the same in English and Spanish, but we doesn’t seem to know either at the moment.

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Cameron’s toy bag! He likes kicking things, even his books.

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Cameron walks pretty well. He is still a little wobblely, but manages to get around pretty good.

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Cameron loves his big red ball that he brought with him from the foster family.

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Cameron wasn’t tool impressed by the fish at the zoo. And no, that isn’t him screaming! =)

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Ahhh, the monkey cage. Cameron’s favorite!

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The Zebra Pin…no response.

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Okay, here is the crazy bear. Poor thing made us laugh. Not sure what he was trying to say.

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This bear had to be a close cousin to the cliff bear. He was swimming around and around his bath tub building up a current. Self made whirlpool tub!

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Cameron and mommy play patty cake while watching the deer.

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Big, Bad, Tiger! This tiger was pretty active compared to many of the animals in the zoo.

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Okay, here is the llama video. Mary Ann was trying to get Cameron to feed the llamas. It didn’t go over so well. Won’t be working the family farm anytime soon. Sorry.

Colombia Day 5 – We’re Gonna Miss This

Cameron and I were sitting out on the balcony today admiring the plants and birds flying around outside the hotel. He was fascinated by a little humming bird that was busily feeding on the flowers nearby. I couldn’t help get a little emotional as we sat there together. As much as Mary Ann and I can’t wait to get him home, part of me knows that this is a special time that we will never have again. It is just us. No pressures, no schedules, no deadlines. Very few people to talk to (that understand us) and only one channel on the TV that plays English reruns, so pretty much no TV to distract us. Just us. Our new family.

The chorus to a song I heard for the first time almost a year ago came to mind as we sat there together.

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You’re gonna miss this
You’re gonna want this back
You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you’re gonna miss this

Needless to say, I am okay with the process taking a few weeks. We are cherishing every moment together. We will be home soon enough and things will get busy again, but we will always look back on this time as precious. I pray that I never forget the important things.


Day 5 Photos


Day 5 Videos

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On the porch of the Hotel Pension Stein.

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Cameron loves to play with daddy’s computer.

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A little refreshment on a warm sunny day.

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Our happy little boy. He loves to watch people.

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Cameron finds his voice. Amazingly, we have only had one all out crying fit in the week we have been together. I am sure that will change soon enough. =)

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Who needs expensive toys? Give him a couple of bottle caps and a laptop case…he is good to go!

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Juice time with Mommy.

Colombia Day 3 & 4 – Pictures

Here are some more pictures from the past couple of days. Everything is going really well. This week is our bonding time with Cameron so there is nothing to do but enjoy him. Our next official meeting will be Monday with the ICBF (Colombian Family Services) to make the adoption official from their end. Then we have to go through the legal portion which could take a couple of weeks.

I haven’t found a good video plugin for our website yet, so all of the video is being posted to FaceBook. As soon as I find a good plugin, we will post the video here too.

Also, check back on the previous posts as I have been adding details to them as I have time.

Day 3 Photos


Day 4 Photos


Day 3 Videos

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Cameron is a happy boy at meal time!

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Some more footage of Mommy feeding Cameron.

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Mary Ann has a new man in her life…but I am okay with it. =)


Day 4 Videos

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Mommy mixed some mango in with Cameron’s morning cerel. He liked it! Notice the spoon…he loves to hold a spoon while he eats.

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Cameron’s foster family must have taught him about remote controls. He’s got mad skills with a TV remote!

Colombia Day 2 – Presentation Day

We woke up early on Tuesday morning, the big day! We were told to expect the taxi driver to pick us up at 7:00 AM. Our flight to Cali was scheduled to leave at 9:02 AM and needed to be there an hour before the flight. We were packed and ready to go by 6:4o AM when the taxi driver arrived. We were told that the rule in Colombia is, “Hurry up and wait.” It isn’t uncommon for people to be half an hour late to a meeting. It was nice that he was early.

We had a wonderful ride to the airport. Bogota is a city of many contradictions. The traffic is crazy, but we haven’t seen one accident. The city appears old but you will find all of the latest technology around every corner. They tell you all these stories about the crime in Bogota, yet the city seems to be filled with wonderful people eager to help a stranger. We enjoyed seeing some of the city on the way to the airport. We even got to see a McDonald’s. What would any modern city be without a McDonald’s?!?

The airport was crowded, but we got right in and made it to the ticket counter quickly. After paying for our extra baggage, we made our way through the security check point without any problem. Well, except for the language problem. There was a little lady with the scanning wand that kept saying something to me, but of course I didn’t understand. Finally she realized that I didn’t speak Spanish so she said, “Turn Around!” I guess I must have responded in a funny way, because she just started laughing. Oh well. =)

We boarded a VERY nice airplane that was more modern than anything we have flown in the states. It was very comfortable and had all kinds of technology gadgets to play with. We spent a long time on the runway waiting to take off, but we finally got into the air and got to see a little bit of the country side. It is sooooo beautiful! The mountains are incredible! From that view point, you can’t imagine there being any problems at all!

We arrived in Cali about forty minutes later and immediately fell in love with the area. It reminds me alot of some of the tropical areas that we have visited on the cruises we have been on. It looks like a beautiful tropical paradise. The climate is much like Savannah, so we are very comfortable with the weather. On the thirty minute drive from the airport to Cali, we saw field after field of sugar cane. There were a lot of motorcycles, as in Bogota, and we also saw our first armed patrols. When we asked about the patrols we were told that someone important must be coming to Cali that day. They patrol the road between the airport and the city for safety.

The city has that tropical feel, the streets are narrow with street vendors selling all kinds of wares. We drove through the center of the city until we arrived at the Hotel Pension Stein.

Minutes after we arrived at the hotel, our translator, Magnolia Ospina, arrived to greet us. She is the dearest, sweetest lady you will ever meet. She gave us a tour of the hotel and the services that are offered to us. She sat down with us and went over the process of the up-coming week. She let us have a few minutes to settled in before we had lunch together in the hotel dining room. All of our meals are included in the price of our stay, which is very nice. The lunch was fantastic! And when we were finished, we headed to the ICBF office to meet our little boy.

We arrived at the ICBF office shortly after an Italian family that was staying the the same hotel as us. We were both told that our little boys were still in route from Buga, where Cameron was born. We waited for about forty five minutes before we were asked to wait in the hall. The ICBF is very careful about the introductions of children to their new parents. It is a very good process that helps the children make their adjustment to their new family.

The Italian family was first since their appointment was before ours. We waited in the hallway for about another thirty-five minutes before they invited us into an office to discuss Cameron’s physical, mental, and emotional state. We would have been completed lost had it not been for Magnolia. She was with us every step of the way and did so much more than just translate. She was more like a friend.

After talking for about fifteen minutes, we were given all of Cameron’s paperwork which included a letter to him from his foster mother. It is a sweet letter from her wishing him all the best with his new family. It is obivious from the documentation that we got from her that Cameron has been extremely well taken care of during his period of foster care. Magnolia said that many foster care homes in Colombia are poor families, but that from what she was seeing in Cameron’s papers, his was not. We have complete medical records from the day he was brought to the hospital, a baby book with all of his firsts, and a picture from each month of his life! It is so much more than we ever thought possible. We are very grateful to his foster mother, and to God for putting Cameron in such wonderful, loving hands.

Then came the big moment! The moment that we had been waiting for more than 14 years, six of which was spent actively pursuing the adoption. The moment that would change our lives forever.

We walked down the little hallway and there he was, sitting with one of the office workers. At first he was a little shy, not knowing who these new people were. He didn’t cry at all, and it took everything I had to keep it together! I didn’t want to cry, because I thought then he would cry. Mary Ann and I both shed a few tears, but held back the sea of emotion that was rolling inside. Within minutes they had given him to Mary Ann and slowly they started leaving the room, one by one. Finally we were alone, just the three of us. Our new family had begun.

Cameron is wonderful and has already changed our lives! We are praising God that He has finally met the desire of our hearts for a family. We left the ICBF office and headed back to the hotel. The first few days are supposed to be quiet times for us and him. Time spent getting to know one another and time for him to begin to trust us as his caregivers.

We got back to the hotel and spent the evening getting to know our little Cameron.

It was a long day and a much longer wait, but with much gratefulness (and a little bit of that daddy pride) I introduce to you, Cameron David Mulvehill…


Day 2 Photos


Day 2 Videos

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The drive between the Cali Airport and the city.

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Our ride home from the ICBF office right after we got Cameron. He is enjoying his first Cheerios with us.

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Our first night together. We gave him some animal crackers and he showed us his little happy food dance. He isn’t sure what to think about us yet, but he loves those crackers.

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The video is a little dark, but this was an important boding time our first night. We sat out on the balcony of our room and held him. It is especially  important to have lots of physical contact the first couple of days.

Colombia Day 1 – Arrival

Well, we arrived in Colombia last night and things were pretty intense for a little bit. Everything went very smoothly as we departed the airport. We had no trouble getting through immigration and the customs officer took one look at the stroller we were holding and waved us through customs. Once through customs we were told to look for the currency exchange window to exchange a few dollars into Colombian Pesos. That was easily done and we headed out of the airport. It was an amazingly easy process.

Once outside the airport, things got a little more interesting. We thought that we were going to be met by an English speaking driver, but as it turns out, he didn’t speak any English at all. He was, however, a good driver (you have to be in order to drive in Colombia…it is amazing)!

After driving for what seemed like forever, we finally arrived at our apartment building which our lawyer in Bogota had arranged for us. Our lawyer, Mr. Torrado and his family met us in the lobby of a very nice apartment complex. Mr. Torrado’s son and daughter-in-law spoke very good English and got us settled in.

After a long night’s sleep we got up and got ready to meet Johanna, another lawyer from Mr. Torrado’s office. Johanna is a very sweet lady who is handling our case. She and an interrupter came to the apartment on Monday and went over the process covering the next several weeks. We exchanged some paperwork and they left us to spend the rest of our a day Bogota.

We ventured out of the apartment to a nearby grocery store to get some dinner. We were a little to scared to tackle a restaurant just yet. We wondered into a large store that, for the most part, looked like any store in Savannah. Just everything looked to be much more expensive. The Colombian peso exchanges for the US dollar at 1850 to 1. So looking at a loaf of bread that cost $5,500 makes you a little nervous!

So, $26,400 pesos later, we walked back to the apartment with some spaghetti, sauce, Cokes, water, and some Mister Chips. We enjoyed some spaghetti and flat steaks that had been left in the freezer that Mr. Torrado wanted us to have. Little bit of a strange meal, but it was very good. Mary Ann always cooks good suppers.

We finished the day trying to watch some American TV on the Internet, but that didn’t happen. For the record, all of the mainstream sites that allow you to stream video don’t work outside of the US! Not even a NetFlix account! Oh, well, probably for the best. We did a little reading and then headed to bed for a much needed night’s rest before the big presentation day.

Packed and Ready!

Well, we are packed and ready to go. We will be leaving for the airport around 5:45 AM Sunday morning. Special thanks to my Dad for taking us to the airport and to my brother Dana and the Maners for looking after our house and our dog, Bama. Bama is looking forward to spending some time with her uncle Dana. =)

Thank you so much to everyone who have helped us get to this point. So many people have given to help us financially. We know that many prayers have been offered and continued to be offered up for our trip. We will never be able to thank our employers enough for the flexibility in allowing us to travel to Colombia to get Cameron. There is no way that we could name everyone that has been apart of this process, but we look forward to the day when we will be able to share with Cameron the love of Christ that has be shown for him through all of you.

Many updates to come as we begin our trip!

Finally, We Are Headed to Colombia!

We got our tavel dates yesterday and we are hurrily preparing to travel to Colombia to pick up our little boy. We will be leaving on June 13th! Yes, that is next Sunday! There are a lot of preparations to make this week, but I will try and post more of the details soon. God is good! And it is true that good things come to those who love Him and wait upon Him.

Thanks for all of the prayer and support! More information coming soon.

Awaiting His Coming,
Patrick & Mary Ann Mulvehill

Last Approval Received

Tayrona National Park, Colombia

We have finally reached the end of the USCIS paperwork, Cameron has been given permission to enter the United States as a citizen! This is the final approval (I-800) that we have been waiting for from the US Citizenship and Immigration services department. The application will now be sent to the National Visa Center and then cabled to the US Embassy in Bogota, Colombia. After a few filings from our lawyer in Bogota, we should be set to travel in the next couple of weeks. We will let everyone know the exact dates as soon as we know.

In some ways we are feeling a sigh of relief that we made it through the past couple of months and are still being permitted to adopt Cameron. We truly believe it to be a God thing. Though we can’t understand the timing of it all, we know that we have to trust the One orchestrating the events of our lives.

Now we turn our attention to the next leg of our adventure, traveling to Colombia, South America. We are pretty much ready to go, but there are still a lot of details to be worked out in a very short period of time. We will need to make a day trip to Atlanta to get our travel visas from the Colombian Consulate. We thought we were going to have to travel to Miami or Chicago, but as it turns out, there is a Consulate in Atlanta that should be able to meet our needs.

In addition to travel visas, we will be getting everything together for our trip. Four to five weeks is a long time to be away from home. Thankfully, we are surrounded by wonderful, loving people who want to help in any way they can. My brother Dana has agreed to house/dog sit for us. Bama (our four year old English Springer Spaniel) is looking forward to spend some quality time with her uncle Dana. My parents, and several other dear friends, have offered to drive us to the airport (though as of right now, we are still not sure which airport we will be flying out from). So many of you have offered to help with travel expenses, and we know that the prayers have been continous. We are truly blessed to have so many friends and family that have helped us all along the way.

Thank you to everyone that helped get together the items that we need to have for Cameron once we arrive. We have had those suit cases packed for several weeks, but Mary Ann has gone through them again to make sure we have everything we need. All that is left will be to pack our own bags,…well, I mean “bag” since we only get one a piece without having to pay a small fortune to the airline for additional luggage. How in the world do you pack for a four week trip in one bag!?! Fun, fun.

Below is the list from the last update showing what has been completed and some adjusted dates (all still estimates at this point).

I-800a – Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country Application that must approved by the National Benefits Center giving us permission to adopt Done – Praise the Lord!
I-800 – Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relative Application that has to be approved in order for Cameron to be adopted in the US. We are waiting for one more piece from the translator, but should have it soon. We hope to send this off on Monday. Received
Travel Documents
  • Employment Letter
  • Medical Letter
  • FBI Clearance

All these documents have to be apostilled by the Georgia Secretary of State.

All documents updated and apostilled
Article 5 Letter Issued by the US Embassy in Colombia once they receive our I-800 approval notification. May 28th at the latest
Travel Visas We can apply for these at the Colombian Consulate once we have the article 5 letter. Before we travel
Bon Voyage Leave for Colombia to pick up our little boy! Estimating June 6th if all goes well

 

So please continue to pray that we get our travel dates this week and that everything else from this point on goes smoothly. We have all of the permissions we need from our government and the invitation from Cameron’s government to go and get him, so everything else should be formalities. Please pray that God will provide for all of our travel needs and for the preparations that need to be made in the next couple of weeks.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. God Bless!

Awaiting His Coming,
Patrick & Mary Ann Mulvehill

Longing for Approval

GREAT NEWS! OUR I-800A HAS BEEN APPROVED!!!

Through a series of events, our application landed on the desk of a very dear lady at the NBC who has been a tremendous blessing to us. We are very, very grateful to her! She will also be reviewing our I-800 and we are very thankful for that too. She is a HUGE blessing!

I have started and stopped this update several times this week. I kept waiting for good news and when some would come, bad news would follow close on its heals. It has been a roller coaster!

Since our last update, we have been frantically working to get our home study updated to meet Hague Convention standards. We found out after we filed the I-800a that our home study did not meet the necessary standards for a Hague adoption. Thankfully, our home study provider worked very hard, gathering all of the additional information for the home study. They turned around information in a day that should have taken several. It was amazing! Things like additional background clearances, psychological information, updated family information, and updated financial data all had to be added to the updated study.

The home study process is really an amazing process in itself. Everyone should go through something like it at least once just to the get a copy of the resulting mini-novel. When this is all said and done, the home study would make a great outline for the autobiography of our lives! Not sure it would make the New York top ten list, but it would be fun to work on.

So, where do thing stand? Here is a quick check list with some time lines that we are praying for. All of these dates are estimated, we hope things move faster than this.

I-800a -  Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country Application that must approved by the National Benefits Center giving us permission to adopt Done – Praise the Lord!
I-800 – Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relative Application that has to be approved in order for Cameron to be adopted in the US. We are waiting for one more piece from the translator, but should have it soon. We hope to send this off on Monday.  May 14th at the latest
Travel Documents
  • Employment Letter
  • Medical Letter
  • FBI Clearance

All these documents have to be apostilled by the Georgia Secretary of State.

May 14th at the latest
Article 5 Letter Issued by the US Embassy in Colombia once they receive our I-800 approval notification. May 21st at the latest
Travel Visas We can apply for these at the Colombian Consulate once we have the article 5 letter. Before May 28th
Bon Voyage Leave for Colombia to pick up our little boy! May 28th or before
     

Please continue to pray for us. The next several weeks will be interesting to say the least. Thanks for you continued prayers and support.

Awaiting His Coming,
Patrick & Mary Ann Mulvehill

Could you God-Size That For Me?

Well okay. Now our adoption is officially a God-Sized task! I guess in some ways it has been from day one, but now it officially feels that way. For some reason I am more at peace with it being that way than just something I think we can do.

On Friday we were told that the home study we sent with our I-800a does not meet the standards required for a Hague Convention adoption. This is different from the information we got last Tuesday from our home study provider, but I guess we didn’t talk to the right person. Anyway, the home study provider is being very helpful in getting the home study rewritten to meet Hague standards. We are praying that this doesn’t hold us up too much.

We also discovered that in order to be eligible to adopt from a Hague Convention country we have to have 10 hours worth of training from an accredited Hague training source. Fortunately, this training is available online, so a few clicks and $100 dollars later, Mary Ann are cramming like we are in college. Were hoping to be finished with all of the training by the end of the weekend so that our home study agency can sign us off on the training for the I-800 filing.

So here is the big news. Talking with the adoption agency that is handling our post-adoption reporting, they have had clients that filed their I-800a and I-800 at the same time. They have also had clients that needed to do this and couldn’t. So the new God-Sized task is that we will be able to talk to someone at the National Benefits Center, which handles the processing of the I-800a and the I-800 applications, who will allow us to go ahead and file our I-800 with our updated home study. This could potentially be the time saving element that we need to ensure that we don’t lose the referral. We could potentially be approved by the end of April if we can find someone at the NBC who is willing to help us.

So here is the new prayer list:

  • Pray that we get in touch with someone at the National Benefits Center who is willing to help us expedite our applications, allowing us to file them together.
  • Pray that we get our home study updated quickly during this next week.
  • Continue to pray that the ICBF won’t give up on us.
  • Pray that we can continue to just trust God in this process and that the day will come when we will give Him the glory for the great things He has done!

Thank you for all of your prayers and support.

Awaiting His Coming,
Patrick & Mary Ann Mulvehill